Sunday, July 01, 2018

Under the Deep Blue Sea

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Amphitrite and Poseidon

I like to use any mythologies which
might coincide within the same time frame. That is, Celtic myths
probably shouldn’t be mixed up with Greek mythology. But the
ancient middle-eastern myths that predominate Setara’s Genie easily
coincide with Greek myth. That’s why I feel fine with having my
middle-eastern heroine go to the bottom of the sea and meet up with
Poseidon and his wife.

Poseidon

Poseidon
is a god of many names. He is most famous as the god of the sea. The
son of Cronus and Rhea, Poseidon is one of six siblings who
eventually "divided the power of the world." His brothers
and sisters include: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Zeus. The
division of the universe involved him and his brothers, Zeus and
Hades. Poseidon became ruler of the sea, Zeus ruled the sky, and
Hades got the underworld. The other divinities attributed to Poseidon
involve the god of earthquakes and the god of horses. The symbols
associated with Poseidon include: dolphins, tridents, and
three-pronged fish spears.

AmphitriteThe
queen of the sea, variously given as the daughter of Oceanus and
Tethys or of Nereus and Doris. When the sea god Poseidon wanted her
as his bride, she declined the honor and hid from him in the Atlantic
Ocean. A dolphin not only located her, but also brought her back to
him, and he married her. The dolphin was awarded a place in heaven.
Their son is the fish-man Triton. Amphitrite was portrayed on Greek
amphoras together with her consort, riding in a chariot pulled by sea
creatures (see above), or sitting on a sea creature, surrounded by Tritons. She
is decorated with the attributes of a queen, her waving hair covered
with a net, and sometimes with the pincers of a lobster attached to
her temples. The Romans referred to her as Salacia.

The name
means something like “The third one who encircles (the sea).”

This adventure has Setara helping the merboy, Dolph, find his true self.
Nasty old uncle, Terrapin, paid a seawitch to toss Dolph out of the
sea. With amnesia, he’s taken in my a rich man and made the
stableboy. Considering that his father (Poseidon) is the god of
horses, he fits in nicely. Setara first meets Dolph on an adventure in
which she is made a slave by pirates. But that’s another story. The
second time, she and Dolph meet, he has come to Setara’s home
hoping that Basit (her genie) can help him discover who he is. With
a good dunking in a demon pool, Dolph recalls some of his past life
and they discover he is a merboy. He asks Setara and her friends to
help him return to the sea.

Setara,
Basit, and Kairev (the pool demon) help him to return to the sea
where he regains his memory completely. The name Dolph is one given
to Triton (Amphitrite’s only child) by his new friends. His real
name in undersea language (think of the sound of dolphins) wasn’t
pronounceable, so Setara continues to call him by the nickname Dolph.

Dolph must
fight a duel with his uncle to regain his rightful title of Prince of
the Sea. Of course, Amphitrite wants her son to win, but she's not
aware of the the obvious fact that Dolph is falling for Setara, and
vice versa. Amphitrite has a high-pitched voice (dolphin squeaks) and
wears a crown of crab claws (sometimes depicted as lobster claws).

Excerpt

All the merfolk living
within swimming distance of the palace gathered in the great hall to
watch the duel. Mers sat on the wall seats, and others floated in the
water above and around the dueling ring. Setara hadn’t noticed the
ring before. The merfolk must have installed the inlaid
mother-of-pearl circle overnight. She floated down to examine the
ring, but it looked like it was part of the smooth, shell-covered
floor. She wondered how they could have laid down the forty-foot
circle in such a short time.

The murmur of the merfolk
fell away when King Poseidon entered the hall from an archway behind
the throne. He had changed to the normal size for a mer, about the
height of a very tall human, or a medium-sized demon. His long fish
tail made up most of his height, just like all the mers. He swam up
to sit on his throne, which had shrunk to match his size. A lovely
merlady wearing a crown resembling crab pincers joined him on a
second, smaller throne. Dolph’s mother, Setara thought.

King Poseidon swept his
eyes around the hall until they reached Setara. He beckoned to her.
She poked an elbow into Basit’s ribs and tilted her head toward the
king. Basit took her by the arm and swam to the throne.

Poseidon spoke, but his
voice was no longer as loud as the booming of waves crashing on the
shore. “Setara and Basit, may I present my queen, Amphitrite.”
Setara bowed from the waist rather than attempting another underwater
curtsey.

“I am pleased to
meet the girl who saved my son. You, as well, genie,” the queen
said in a high-pitched voice, the tone wavering up and down. Setara
thought she heard a few clicks and whistles, too. The queen
continued, “We will reward you before you return to the lands
above.”

Setara shook her head.
“Your Majesty, we want no reward other than seeing Dolph safe at
home again.” She turned toward the ring. “I wish Dolph didn’t
have to fight this duel.”

Basit’s
pointed ears perked up at the word ‘wish.’

* * *

The Tales of Abu Nuwas - SETARA'S GENIE A girl, a genie, a few demons. What could go wrong?

Abu Nuwas sits in the bazaar telling stories to the passersby he can tempt to pay. He relates the adventures of the bored daughter of a rich merchant, Setara, and her genie, Basit, as they encounter the creatures of legend and folklore: a lonely cave demon seeking a home; a flying, fire-breathing horse who has lost his mate; a dragon searching for his family; an evil genie hunting for the man who bottled him; and a merboy prince cast out of his undersea kingdom.